The Captain of the liner was an old man.

He had sailed the seas for two-score years, at least half of them as master.

At the outbreak of the Great War he was given command of the Doraine, relieving a younger man for more drastic duty in the North Sea.

He was an Englishman, and his name, Weatherby Trigger, may be quite readily located on the list of retired naval officers in the British Admiralty offices if one cares to go to the trouble to look it up.
After two years the Doraine, with certain other vessels involved in a well-known and somewhat thoroughly debated transaction, became to all intents and purposes the property of the United States of America; she flew the American flag, carried an American guncrew and American papers, and, with some difficulty, an English master.

The Captain was making his last voyage as master of the ship.